Samoa's Members of Parliament are not subjected to the laws of the country's Public Service Commission (P.S.C.).

Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr. Sa'ilele Malielegaoi said this recently in his weekly media programme, when discussing the case of Papali’i John Taimalelagi, the former CEO of the Ministry of Justice and Courts Administration and the Minister, Fa’aolesa Katopau Ainu’u. 

He said all ministry staff from chief executive officers down to their subordinates are subject to the laws of the P.S.C. but not their respective ministers.

“The chief executive officer down to the staff is subject to P.S.C. laws but not Members of Parliament," he said. 

The fate of the Members of Parliament and whether they should continue in public office lies with their voters, added Tuilaepa.

“The (Members of Parliament) will only be axed by the voters, but election is not far away. And if the constituency knows their Minister made a mistake, only they hold can terminate his services in office. 

“This is the same principle that applies to me, if my constituency knows that I made mistakes, they can removed me from office,” the Prime Minister added. 

Only voters in Samoa's various constituencies can determine the future of their Members of Parliament, he said, and again appealed to the former C.E.O. to move on after he wrote to the P.S.C. to request that it overturned its decision to terminate him. 

“In my view, the Public Service Commission made the right decision and my advice is, accept it and move on. 

"He (Papali’i) made the right decision to admit to the charges and put a cap on the information otherwise, all the dirty information will remain hidden.  But if this comes out, I may as well go and hide,” said the Prime Minister. 

The contract of the former Ministry of Justice and Courts Administration C.E.O. was terminated by the P.S.C. last month.